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gJesus and the (Dbdiums, 

— OR— 

©HI^IST 2# GQediumship. 



A CAREFUL COMPARISON OF SOME OF THE 

Spiritualism and Mediumship of the Bible With 
That of To-day, Showing Their Condi- 
tions to be the Same. 



BY MOSES HWLL-, 

Author of "The Question Settled," "The Contrast Between 
Evangelicalism and Spiritualism," "Which, Spiritualism 
or Christianity?" "Your Answer or Your Life," "Joan, 
the Heroine or Orleans," " The Irrepressible Con- 
flict or The Battle Between Rich Robbers and 
1^ ' .* Poor Producers," "The Decay of Institu- 

» iLW" tions," "All about Devils," and other 

/I ^ Works on Spiritualism and 

£ General Reform. 

tk He that answereth a matter before he heareth it y it is a 
folly and a shmae unto him." Prov. xviii:i3. 



CHICAGO: 

PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 
29 Chicago Terrace, Cor. W. Fortieth St. 

1890. " 



A 



<D 



#1>* 



Entered According to the Act of Congress, in the year 1890. 

By MOSES HULL, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PREFACE. 



This is in reality the third edition of this little 
book. First ; by request of those who heard it, it 
was issued as a lecture under the title " Biblical 
and Modern Mediumship Compared." That seemed 
only to whet the appetite for the truths herein con- 
tained, and a revised edition was issued under the 
title "The Christ, Who and What is it? or some of 
the Spintulism and Mediumship of the Bible com- 
pared with that of to-day." I now have the pleas- 
ure of presenting a third edition revised and 
electrotyped. 

I assure the reader that no mere cacoethes scribendi 
has induced me to take my pen at the present time. 
Indeed, I have been importuned for years to bring 
out a series of just such works as this. By writing 
'Question Settled," and "The Contrast," for a 
ime, this clamor was partially settled; but my 
friends persist in thinking there must be more where 
these two volumes came from, and they ask for ito 



IV PREFACE. 

I am fully convinced that Spiritulists generally 
have ignored the Bible too much. Many have 
sought lo take the Bible from the churches and spike 
it. In the following pages the Bible, by being 
proven to be a spiritual book, is not spiked, but is 
turned against those who supposed that to them 
belonged the exclusive privilege of interpreting 
that volume. 

When the Bible is interpreted aright, those who, 
without knowing but little of its contents, have 
worshiped the book as a kind of f etisch, and looked 
with suspicion on every innovation, may be led lo 
look more favorably on Spiritualism ; and at the 
same time Spiritualists may be induced to pay some 
attention to that great store-house of Spiritual 
Truths. 

With the hope that this little pamphlet may be 
the means of opening many pairs of eyes, I send it 
out on its mission. 

Moses Hull. 
Chicago, III., ) 

Sept., 1890. ) 



JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, OR CHRIST 
AND MEDIUMSHIP. 



" The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be ; and that 
which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new 
thing under the sun." Eccl. i:9. 

" That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath 
already been ; and Godrequireth that which is past. " Eccl. iii :15. 

The Bible contains no truth more self-evident 
than the one contained in these scriptures. So long 
as conditions remain unchanged, each succeeding 
age must prod uce the manifestations of everyformer 
age. If miracles occurecl in the past they must oc- 
cur to-day; if we have particular manifestations of 
spirit power to-day, the same conditions which 
produce them now must have produced them in 
past ages. 

Mediumship is not confined to a particular race, 
age or dispensation; it is based on the natural sus- 
ceptibility of man to come en rapport with the 
world of spirit. By this I mean that mediumship 
is natural, not supernatural. I do not mean that 
all men and all women are alike mediums, more 
than all are alike orators or poets; what I do affirm 



6 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

is, that the gift belongs alike to all ages and nations 

of the world. Paul said : 

" But the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to 
profit withal." 1 Cor. xii :7. 

Who has not asked spirits and mediums the ques- 
tion, "Am I a medium?" or, "What kind of a me- 
dium would I make?" The first of these questions 
is always answered in the affirmative; but when 
the second question is asked the answers are various, 
and sometimes thought to be contradictory. Why 
is this? Let me answer: 

All are mediums: "The spirit is given to every 

man." One of old said: 

"But there is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the 
Almighty giveth them understanding." Job. xxx :8. 

Every member of the human family, whether ne 
knows it or not, is a spiritual being; spirit blends 
with spirit, therefore every one has within himself 
or herself the possibilities, though latent, they may 
be, of coming in contact with the world of spirit. 
That is mediumship, and, in that sense, every one 
is a medium. 

2. I have often been asked, "Why do I get so 
many contradictory answers as to the phase of my 
mediumship?" Before I answer permit me to ask: 
Are you sure these answers are contradictory? May 
it not be that those who answer your queries, view 
the matter from different standpoints? Supposing 
four of your neighbors were to pass to the other 
side of life within the next month ; one is a minis- 
ter, another a doctor, another an artist and another 
an author; it is possible that these four may all 



OR CHRIST AND MKDIUMSHIP. 7 

feel that they have left their work unfinished ; they 
may each of them have a desire to return and con- 
tinue their business. Now suppose these four all 
come to the same circle, and you ask each of them 
whether you could be a medium ; the answer would 
probably in each instance be, "Yes." Then ask 
each of them what kind of a medium you would 
make, and probably each would view your organism 
from his particular point of view. One would tell 
you you would make an inspirational speaker, or a 
trance medium; another, that you would make a 
healer or a "medicine man." Another might see in 
you the elements of an artist, and still another that 
he could develop you as a writing medium. 

There is no contradiction in all these answers; 
the probability is that there is that within you that 
could be developed in any of these directions. 

THEN AND NOW. 

My subject leads me to a comparison of biblical 
and modern mediumship, and I must premise that 
on this subject the world has very generally made 
two very grave mistakes. One is, it has made more 
of biblical mediums than the case would warrant, 
and the other is, it has very generally discounted 
that which has occurred within its immediate pur- 
view. This is not peculiar to Spiritualism; men 
have always done it; the mountains in the distance 

are indeed 

" the beautiful hills, 

Which the blest have trod," 

but when one reaches these same ' 'beautiful hills," 



8 J£SUS AND THK MEDIUMS, 

he finds them covered with thorns and briers, crag- 
gy rocks and deep ravines ; so when we look back 
upon the manifestations of past ages we regard them 
as wonderful, whereas, if they occured here, or if 
we had been where they did occur we probably 
would have joined with the multitude that wit- 
nessed them, in saying: 

44 What sign showest thou then, that we may see and believe 
thee ? What dost thou work !" Jno. vi :30. 

These people could see nothing in Jesus or his 
work. The people now viewing his work from a 
distance of nearly nineteen centuries have no trouble 
in seeing enough in Jesus' work to prove him a God. 
Those same people who could see nothing in Jesus, 
could look back through fifteen hundred years to 
Moses, and could see plainly that he was a divinely 
commissioned leader. Hear them talk of what their 
fathers enjoyed. The next verse after the one just 
quoted says: 

" Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written : He 
gave them bread from heaven." 

This the Jews of Jesus' day, could plainly see, 
but when we go back to those halcyon days when 
they enjoyed the "bread from heaven," we hear 
those who ate it, say: 

" Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the 
wilderness; for there is no bread, neither is their any water; and 
our soul loatheth this light bread." Num. xxi :5. 

In Jesus' day, the old, staid church-members re- 
viled those who witnessed his manifestations, and 
said : 



OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 9 

4 'Thou art bis disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. We 
know that God spake with Moses; as for this fellow, we know 
not from whence he is." Jno. ix:28, 29. 

This is enough ; it proves the pointl wish to make 
— that is, that people are more apt to see things at 
a distance than when they occur in their midst. 
The world has always seen more through the eyes 
of its grand fathers than through its own eyeo. 

I now take the position, that if Jesus was not the 
hero of some Spiritualistic author, he was 

ONLY A MEDIUM. 

Of this the proofs are abundant and will appear 
as I proceed. Suffice it for the present, to quote 
Paul, who says: 

" For there is one God, and one meditator between God and 
man, the man, Christ Jesus. 1 Tim. ii:5. 

The word rendered meditator in this instance, is 
the Greek word mesitees. The definition of that 
word is medium. Greenfield defines the word to 
mean a "medium of communication between God 
and man." 

JESUS' DEVELOPMENT. 

"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight-way out 
of the water ; and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he 
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon 
him ; and, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matt, iii :16. 

This text is frequently read wrong, and I believe 
always interpreted wrong. It is always made to 
imply that somehow if you had been there you 



10 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

would have seen a ghost, in the shape of a bird, 
light upon Jesus, and you would have heard a voice 
calling Jesus the Son of God. Neither is true; 
the heavens were not opened to the multitude. 
Read the text once more : "And the heavens were 
opened unto him"— not to the multitude. Again : 
"And he saw the Spirit of God descending.'' The 
multitude did not see a spirit descending; Jesus 
alone saw it. Once more, I have heard it said the 
spirit descended " in a bodily shape like a dove." 
Even Luke indicates as much. Does anyone believe 
that spirits are shaped like doves? If so, God may 
be a big bird instead of an overgrown man ! May 
it not be that the descent was like that of a dove, 
instead of the spirit being shaped like a dove? Why 
should spirits be more likely to be shaped like doves 
than like geese, owls, cranes or buzzards? If this 
is the meaning of the text, which I do not believe, 
why not call it a materialization, such as we hear 
of in Modern Spiritualism? I know mediums, Mrs. 
Thayer-Goodsell, for instance, who frequently has 
doves descend and light upon persons in her 
seances. 

Once more : " This is my beloved Son." Who is 
whose son? The voice does not say Jesus is my be- 
loved son, or he is my beloved son. The term this 
applies to the power here recognized as the holy 
spirit. Son, is simply an idiom, and signifies a kind 
of affinity or spiritual connection, as, "Sons of Thun- 
der," "Sons of Belial," "Ye are of your father, the 
devil," "Children of this world," etc. Indeed, the 
word rendered children in the above, is the plural 



OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 11 

of the same singular noun which is rendered son in 
Matt, iii:17. 

HOW JESUS BECAME A CHRIST. 

Peter, at the house of Cornelius, in Acts x:38, 
throws some light on this question. He says: 

"God anointed {Greek ekrisen, christened, or christ-ed — 
that is, made a Christ of] Jesus of Nazareth with the holy ghost 
and with power ; who went about doing good and healing allthat 
were oppressed with the devil ; for God was with him." 

This anointing or making a Christ of Jesus took 
place at the baptism of John. Here let it be re- 
marked that baptism was always administered for 
the purpose of spiritual development — never for 
any other purpose. 

When Peter urged the people to repent and be 
baptized, it was not to fit them for a heaven here- 
after, but that they might receive the gift of the 
holy ghost, — hagion pneumatos — pure, or good 
spirit. Acts ii:38. 

OTHER CHRISTS. 

All may be Christs or mediums, on exactly the 
same terms as Jesus was. John says: 

"But the anointing Tchristing] which ye have received of him 
abideth in you, and you need not that any man teach you ; but 
the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and 
is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.' , 
[Abide in it— Margin.] 

Here the same anointing or christing which 
came to Jesus, and which many good Christians 
think made him a God, comes to others and does 



12 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

precisely the same work for them that it did for him. 

No one can deny that this anointing or christing 
is mediumship. See what it does. "Itabideth in 
you." "Ye need not that any man teach you." 
"The same anointing teacheth you," and you are 
instructed to "abide in him." The margin reads 
"abide in it," that is, in Christ — in the anointing, 
— in mediumship. Probably the old idea that Christ 
was a person caused the translators to make the 
mistake of making the text read "abide in him." 

Christing or anointing, means mediumship ; 

nothing else. It would do no violence to the text 

under consideration to read it as follows: 

"But the mediumship which you have received of him abideth 
with you, and you need not that any man teach you; but the 
same mediumship teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is 
no lie, and even a-s it hath taught you, ye shall abide in it.'' 

The same word occurs in verse 20, of the same 

chapter where John says: 

"But ye have an unction [a christing] from the holy one and 
ye know all things." 

In 1 John v : 1, I read : 

" Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.' 

It would be just as correct to read it "Every one 
who believes that Jesus is the anointed, or is the 
medium has been begotten of God." 

I go into these criticisms because the world needs 
them, and I assure the reader that no honest scholar 
will question them. 

I must not take the space to go into this fully 
but I will quote and briefly comment on one tex 
Paul says : 



OR CHRIST AND MKDIUMSHIP. 13 

"If ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs accord- 
ing to the promise." Gal iii :28. 

This is quoted and referred to in the posessive 
case as though Paul had intended to say* "If you 
belong to a man by the name of Christ or, if you 
are owned by Mr. Christ, then are you Abraham's 
seed; but Paul did not convey any such idea. He 
intended to say. If you are anointed, or if you 
prefer to read it so, read, "If you are mediums cer- 
tainly you are Abraham's seed and heirs according 
to the promise." The term seed does not signify 
literal offspring, but a likeness — a spiritual likeness 
to Abraham. Abraham was a medium under the 
influence of Melchisedec. 

I cannot spare the space to go all through the 
Bible and show that the term Christ generally re- 
fers to a power conferred upon Jesus and others. 
In many instances we read of Jesus the Christ, 
which means no more or less than Jesus the medium. 
The term Messiah or Messias, used several times in 
the New Testament, means the same thing. 

WHAT OF THE OPPOSITION? 

Not only was the Spiritualism and the medium- 
ship of the Bible the same as that of to-day, as it is 
my intention to prove, but the opposition to Spir- 
itualism is the same as the opposition was then. 

Paul said : 

" Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these 
also resist the truth." 2 Tim. iii :8. 

How do these men resist the truth? Simply by 



14 J3SUS AND THB MEDIUMS, 

trying to palm off duplications of the manifestations 
through Moses. When Moses gave a manifestation, 
the record says: 

" Jannes and Jambres also did in like manner with their en- 
chantments." Ex. iii:ll. 

The opposition proved to their own satisfaction 
that Jesus was a humbug. They tested him on 
several occasions. To try his clairvoyance, after 
they arrested him they blindfolded him, then slip- 
ped up behind him and smote him, saying: 

u Prophesy unto us who it was that smote thee*" Luke xxii :64. 

Jesus' clairvoyant power did not stand the test 
proposed by these religious skeptics, and he passed 
among them as a humbug. Even after Jesus was 
on the cross the mocking priests proposed to be- 
lieve, on certain conditions. Their language was: 

u He saved others ; [pretended to save others,] himself he can- 
not save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down 
from the cross, and we will believe him " Matt, xxvii :42. 

The above was the voice of the priests. The com- 
mon people wagged their heads and said: 

u Thou that destroy est the temple, and buildest it in three days, 
save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the 
cross." Verse 40. 

The Jews were always demanding the thing to be 
done here and now. Jesus, in the very beginning 
of his ministry, said: 

11 Ye will surely say unto me this proverb. Physician, heal 
thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernium, do also 
here in thy country. " Lukeiv:23. -. 

The works these fellows demanded were not done 



OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 15 

to gratify a bevy of curiosity seekers, neither is it, 
nor should it be attempted now. 

FALSE MEDIUMS AND FALSE APOSTLES. 

Of course there are false mediums to-day ; the 
world is filled with mercenary pretenders who will 
take up anything for the sake of brief notoriety or 
money, but was it not always so? Paul, in 2 Cor. 
xi:13, warns his brethren against "false apostles," 
and "deceitful workers," or tricksters who used 
"the livery of heaven to serve the devil in." The 
trouble with the world is, that it does not think. 
With many Spiritualists and anti-Spiritualists, 
these pretenders to mediumship are mediums, and 
thus Spiritualism is, by them, thrown into bad 
repute. 

The tricks played in the name of Spiritualism, as 
well as the tricks played to prove Spiritualism all 
tricks are probably as much like genuine Spiritual- 
ism as the "enchantments" of Jannes and Jambres 
were like the manifestations produced by Moses. 
They are about as much like genuine manifestations 
as a green horse-chestnut looks like a peach. 

DID JESUS ' EVER FAIL. 

A debater once said in discussion with myself. 
"I witnessed a case of pretended spiritual healing 
this morning ; it was a failure. The patient was but 
little, if any better. Jesus never failed ; that is one 
of the differences between Jesus and the mediums.' 

Now, I ask is he sure that Jesus never failed? 



16 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

Let me cite one cas^e. Jno. v:l-9 reads as follows: 

" After this there was a feast of the Jews ; and Jesus went up 
Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a 
pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue, Bethesda, having 
five porches. In these lay a great multitude of important folk, 
of blind, bait, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and 
troubled the water ; whosoever then first after the troubling of 
the water then stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease 
he had. And a certain man was there* which had an infirmity 
thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that 
he had now been a long time in that case, he saith unto him, wilt 
thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, sir, I 
have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool ; 
but while I am coming another steppeth down before me, Jesus 
saith unto him, rise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately 
the man was made whole, and took up his bed and walked, and 
on the same day was the sabbath." 

Here " there was a great multitude of impotent 
folks, of blind halt, withered." This surely was an 
opportunity for Jesus to display his miracle work- 
ing power — his God power, by healing this "great 
multitude." Why did he not do it? I answer, he 
lacked either the goodness or the power ; I would 
have cured the "great multitude" if I could, so 
would Jesus. But when the man took up his bed 
and walked, Jesus walked off too, and left this 
multitude of sufferers. 

The explanation is simply this: when Jesus 
looked over this multitude of sick people, he saw 
one whom his clairvoyant power told him he could 
benefit; he cured that one, as he saw no others 
there he could help he did just what others would 
have done ; that is, he went off and left the multi- 
tude sick. Here the healing compared with the 



OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 17 

failure to heal, is as one compared with a "great 
multitude." 

JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS. 

My readers may not have looked at this matter, 
but if they will investigate they will find a wonder- 
ful similarity in the reputed miracles done by Jesus 
eighteen hundred vears ago and the manifestations 
through mediums to day. As an illustration, take 
the resuscitation of the Ruler's daughter. Luke 
says : 

"And when he [Jesus] came into the house, he suffered no man 
to go in save Peter and James and John and the father and 
mother of the maiden. And all wept and bewailed her; but he 
said, Weep not ; she is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed 
him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. And he put them al 
out and took her by the hand and called, saying, Maid, arise; and 
her spirit came again and she arose straightway." 

From the foregoing, it appears that Jesus' mani- 
festations of power were not for the public. Why 
was not this motley crew of unbelievers and blas- 
phemers permitted to behold this manifestation? 
Why was he so secret with his miracles? Only 
Peter, James and John and the girl's parents were 
admitted. Why? Only one answer can be given. 
The reason probably is, Because, in order to make 
a success of this manifestation they must have a 
harmonious circle. Had this rabble of curiosity 
seekers been admitted, their influence — their mag- 
netism would have prevented the manifestation. 
The same was true when Peter healed Tabitha, who 
was supposed to have been dead. The record says: 



18 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

u But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down and prayed ; 
and, turning himself to the body, said, Tabitha arise ; and she 
opened her eyes ; and when she saw Peter she sat-up." Acts 
ix:40. 

I presume Peter put them out because it was nec- 
cessary; he could not heal the woman even with 
her friends present. 

The same may be said of the deaf man. The 
record is in Mark vii:32-34, and is as follows: 

"And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an im- 
pediment in his speech and they beseech him to put his hand 
upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude ', and 
put his fingers into his ears and he spit and touched his tongue. 
And looking up to heaven he sighed, and saith unto him, Eph- 
phatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were 
opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake 
plain. " 

Does not this look much more like many ot the 
cases of healing in modern times than it does like a 
miracle wrought by one of the Gods, or by a son of 
one of the Gods? 

Jesus takes this man away from the multitude. 
Evidently this is done so that he could have more 
power over his infirmities than he could have where 
he had all the uncongeniality of their magnetisms 
to overcome. Again, Jesus uses means; he uses 
saliva and the magnetism imparted from his fingers. 
Why did Jesus do this? Probably because it was 
among the necessary conditions of accomplishing 
his work. Surely a God — the third person in the 
trinity, does not require such conditions as these 
for his miracles! If Jesus was only a medium 
then it would naturally be expected that he would 



OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 19 

require the same conditions as are required in sim- 
ilar modern manifestations. 

The blind man who had his eyes opened, is an- 
other case in point. It reads as follows: 

"And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of 
the town, and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands 
upon him, he asked him if he saw aught. And he looked up and 
said, 1 see men as trees walking. After that he put his hands 
again upon his eyes and made him look up ; and he was restored, 
and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, 
saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town." 
Mark viii :23-26. 

John ix:6, instead of saying "he spit on his eyes," 

says: 

" He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, arid he 
anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay." 

From this it seems that Jesus was simply a 
"medicine man," using such remedies as occurred 
to him. Whether it was the magnetism, the clay 
or the spittle, or whether it was all three combined 
that accomplished this cure, we are not informed. 

The points that clearly appear are: 

1. Jesus found it necessary to take this man out 
of the town — away from the crowd, in order to heal 
him. 

2. He used means; magnetism, spittle and clay. 

3. He tried twice before he accomplished the 
cure, and 

4. He charged the man to go to his house, not to 
return to the town nor tell anyone, but to go quietly 
to his own house. 

Why this charge? I can see no reason except 
that the agitation caused by this wonderful cure 



20 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

would create a discussion of the question that would 
bring him en rapport with the magnetism ot the 
people and cause him to loose what he had gained. 

won't let us see. 

A common objection urged against Spiritualism 
is, that much of it is done in the dark, or in a cab- 
inet, or under a table. All this is proof to the 
average skeptic, "as strong as holy writ;" that it is 
trickery. One minister, who shall be nameless 
here, even urged that the writing should come, not 
between two closed slates, even when the slates 
were held by himself, but they must come on top 
of the slate in broad daylight, and that with him- 
self and a half dozen other equally determined not- 
to-be-convinced-persons looking at it. He knew 
exactly what he was about and would except 
nothing less than his own kind of manifestations, 
under his own conditions and on his own terms. As 
I heard this I thought priests had not improved 
much in the point of consistency since they said, 
•'Let him come down from the cross and we will 
believe." How much of the Bible could this min- 
ister accept if he demanded the same terms he now 
demands of mediums? 

At the burning of the bush ; or rather, at the 

time Moses saw the spirit light in the bush, the 

angel said : 

"Draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet,, 
for the place whereon thou standeth is holy ground." Ex. iii :5 

If Moses had been afflicted with the grabbing pro- 
pensity, he probably would never have obtained the 



OR CRHIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 21 

messages, through which Israel was finally rescued 
and saved. 

When Jesus appeared to the weeping Mary, he 
said : 

"Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my father and to 
your father." Jno. xx :17. 

Probably a majority of those who are opposed to 
dark circle manifestations, do not realize that the 
Ten Commandments were given in the dark, and 
probably spoken through a horn. In the first place 
the Lord came "m a thick cloud" See Ex. xix:9. 

This Lord was an angel, or a departed human 
spirit. See Acts viii:53, Gal. iii:19, Heb. ii:2. 

2. They were not permitted to so much as touch 
the mountain where the manifestations were given. 
The angel was determined there should be no op- 
portunity for grabbing there. The record is as 
follows : 

"And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saj T - 
ing, take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, 
or touch the border of it. Whosoever toucheth the mount shall 
be surely put to death. There shall not an hand touch it, but he 
shall be surely stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or 
man, it shall not live ; when the trumpet soundeth long they shall 
come up to the mount." Ex. xix :11 14. 

Here they could only go up to the mount — the 
cabinet — as they were called up by the long sound- 
ing of the trumpet, so, in modern cabinet manifes- 
tations, the sitters forming the circle around the 
cabinet as the Hebrews did around the mount, only 
go up to the cabinet as they are invited, 

3. Under no circumstances must they "break 
through and gaze" or go up to the mount, only as 



22 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

they were called one at a time by the long sound of 
a trumpet. Verses 19-24 contain the following: 

"And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed 
louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice 
And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the 
mount; and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; 
and Moses went up, and the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, 
charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, 
and msfny of them perish. And let the priests also, which come 
near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth 
upon them. And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot 
come up to mount Sinai, for thou chargest us saying, Set bounds 
about the mount, and sanctify it. And the Lord spake unto him, 
Away, get thee down, and thou shalt came up, thou and Aaron 
with thee. But let not the priests and the people break through 
to come up to the Lord, lest he break forth upon them." 

4. The people obeyed these injunctions and kept 
themselves "afar .off," while Moses went into the 
"thick darkness where God was," Ex. xx: 18-20, 

"And all the people saw the thunderings and lightnings, and 
the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when 
the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. * * * and 
when Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." 

Ever}' person in the habit of attending spiritual 
seances, especially dark circles, can see that the 
above is simply a vivid description of a dark seance 
with its spirit-lights, voices and other et ceteras. 

One would hardly believe when he hears minis- 
ters objecting to dark circle manifestations and to 
seances in the night that the Bible was so fnll of 
such things as it is. On this subject it may not be 
amiss ior me to occupy a little space. 

Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage, in one of his periodical 
attacks of spirit-phobia, says : 



OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 23 

"Why did not Saul go in the day ? He was ashamed to go. 
Besides that, he knew that this Spiritual medium, like all her 
successors, performed her exploits in the night. * * * The 
mediums of all ages have chosen the night, or a darkened room. 
Why ? The majority of their wonders have been such swindles, 
and deceptions prosper best in the night." 

I shall not here undertake to make an extended 
reply to this, it is unnecessary, but I might ask: 
Why did Nicodemus go to Jesus by night? Then I 
might answer: It is because he was ashamed to go 
in the day-time. 

The truth is, I do not believe that our best mani 
testations, or a majority of the manifestations, oc- 
cur in the night. I do believe that in the night the 
elements are less agitated and therefore conditions 
are better for certain kinds of manifestations. 

But the reverend gentleman's objections against 
manifestations in the night weigh with all their 
force against the biblical manifestations. Those 
whose curiosity leads them to pursue this subject 
farther might take their B bles and look up the 
following scriptures: 

I have before said, Nicodemus went to Jesus by 
night. Jno. iii :2. 

It was in the night when the Lord appeared to 
Isaac, Gen. xxvi:24. 

Jacob's wrestle with the Lord was in the night. 
When the day began to break, the Lord begged 
like a good fellow for Jacob to let him go, "for," 
said he, "the day breaketh." Gen. xxxii: 24-26. 

Was this because God and Jacob were, to use the 
classic of the Dr., "ashamed" to be seen together 
in the day-time? 



24 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

It was in the night that God made his great 
promise to Jacob, that he would make of him a 
great nation. Gen. xlvi:2. 

The manna — the "bread from heaven" always fell 
at night and the quails the Lord sent, were sent 
"at even." Ex. xvi:13. 

Baalam's seance with God was in the night. Was 
it because either God or Baalam was "ashamed" to 
go to the seance in the day-time? Num. xxii:20. 

It was in the night when the miracles were 
wrought on Gideon's fleece. Judges vi:37-40. 

The wonderful manifestation by the angel of the 
Lord, of killing one hundred and eighty-five thousand 
Assyrian soldiers, occurred in the night. 2 Kings, 
xx:55. 

It was in a night seance that God promised Sol- 
omon such extraordinary wisdom. 2 Chron. i : 17. 

The miracle of parting the Red Sea and leading 
the people up out of Egypt was done in the night. 
Psams lxxviii:14. 

A night vision gave Daniel his wonderful wisdom. 
Dan, i i : 1 9 . 

A wise man in the book of Job thought man was 
more receptive at night than in the day-time — when 
asleep, than when awake. His language is: 

"For God speaketb once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. 
In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon 
men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of 
men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man 
from his purpose, and hide pride from man." Job xxxiii:14-16 

Those who object, as Eev. Mr. Talmage does, to 
manifestations in the night, forget that Jesus' walk 



OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 25 

on the water was in the fourth watch of the night. 
Matt. xiv:25, Mark vi :48. 

Jesus prayed all night; was it because he was 
"ashamed" to pray in the day-time? Lukevi:12. 

Peter was delivered from the prison in the night- 
Acts xii:6. 

Paul held seances with the angels at night. 
Acts xxiiirll, xxvii:23. 

I have before proven that the Ten Command- 
ments were given in the dark, I now assert that the 
Bible teaches that God dwells in the midst of thick 
darkness. See 1 Kings viii :12. 

THE HEBREWS WERE NOT PERMITTED TO EXAMINE 
THE CABINET. 

In 1 Samuel vi :19, is the history of their under- 
taking to examine the cabinet, and the result. It 

says : 

"And he smote the men of Bethshemesli, because they had 
looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people jifty 
thousand and three score and ten nfen." 

That manifestations occurred in the dark in the 
presence of this ark is evident, from the fact that 
the Philistines put the ark in the temple of Dagon, 
their God, but every morning when they went to 
the temple to worship they would find Dagon thrown 
down before it; and at last found his head and 
hands cut off by these invisible powers. The record 
of this may be found in 1 King v:l-4. 

The manifestations in the presence of the ark 
were so numerous and wonderful, and withal so 



26 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

disastrous that the Philistines were more anxious 
to get rid of the ark than the man was for his neigh- 
bors to come and help him let go of the panther. 
They finally, as an act of self-defense, sent it to 
Israel. 

COVERED TABLES. 

Many mediums when they sit for si ate- writing 
manifestations and others of a similar character, 
have the tables with w T hich they are connected, cov- 
ered. I have even heard good Christians object to 
this; but the same thing is found in the Bible. 
Num. iv:5, says: 

"Aaron shall come and his sons, and they shall take down the 
covering vail, and cover the ?,rk of the testimony with it." 

Verse 20 says : 

"But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are cov- 
ered lest they die.'* 

Such declarations as the above show that they 
were quite as particular to have the best and most 
sacred conditions for their manifestations in Bible 
times as now. 

Some want everything done in public, "right out, 
where everybody can see it." In Elisha's day when 
he multiplied the widow's oil he took the widow 
and her sons and went into a private room and 
"shut the door," to prevent any other seeing the 
manifestation. See 2 Kings iv :4. So when he re- 
suscitated one of these sons, who was supposed to 
have been dead, he went into the room alone and 
shut the door "upon the twain." 2 Kings iv:33. 



OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 27 

ONE MAN KILLED FOR BREAKIG THE COMDITIONS. 

In 2 Sam. vi: 6, is the history of the death of 

Uzzah, as follows: 

"And when they came to Nachan's threshing floor, Uzzah put 
forth his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen 
shook it, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, 
and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the 
ark of God." 

This looks severe ; Uzzah' s intentions were good ; 
the ark needed steadying. God must be capricious 
indeed, to get mad and kill one of the very best of 
his very few friends for a little thing like that. The 
fact is, God did not kill him ; yet their knowledge 
of science, or rather, their want of knowledge, 
would cause them to write in that way. The ark 
was probably heavily charged with electricity and 
Uzzah, by touching it, received a shock from which 
he could not recover. 

I knew a man who, while fixing electric lights in 
Des Moines, received a shock from which he fell 
over dead. Had that been in Bible times the story 
would have been, "The anger of the Lord was kin- 
dled against him and he died." 

OPEN AND SHUT-EYED TRANCES. 

Nearly all the trance mediums nowadays begin 
with their eyes closed; many of them begin to talk 
in a totally unconcious state; after awhile, little 
by little, as they can bear it, they are made con- 
scious of what they are saying and doing, and at a 
latter period their eyes are opened. So it was in 



28 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

Bible times. In Num. xxiv:3, 4, we read: 

"Baalam the son of Beor, hath said, and the man whose eyes 
are open (had his eyes shut but now opened. — Margin) hath said. 
He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the 
vision of the Almighty , falling into a trance but having his eyes 
open. How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, 
O Israel." 

Daniel was both a test and a trance medium ; his 
"visions'* generally came when he was in what he 
called "a deep sleep." I call it a deep trance. In 
Dan. viii:18, he says: 

"Now as he (Gabriel) was speaking with me, I was in a deep 
sleep on my face toward the ground ; but he touched me, and set 
me upright." 

In Dan. x:9, he says: 

''And when I heard the voice of his words, then I was in a deep 
sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground." 

Luke in giving an account of the transfiguration, 

says : 

"But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep; 
and when they were awake, they saw his glory and the two men 
that were with him." Luke ix :32. 

While on the subject of trances, I will say I re- 
gard the Bible just as I do Spiritualism; no more 
true, no more false. Its poems and psalms are in- 
spirations. Much of its history is but the history 
of manifestations among the Jews. 

The book of Revelation is a case in point. It 
came from a departed spirit, or rather, from a cir- 
cle x)f seven different spirits through an entranced 
medium, on the Island of Patmos. John says: 

u l was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a 
great voice, as of a trumpet." Rev. i :10. 



OR CHRIST AND MKDIUMSHIP. 29 

That is, I was entranced, or, I was in a spiritual 
condition on the Lord's day. 

The writer of the Acts of the Apostles referred 
to the same thing when he said : 

"And he (Peter) became very hungry and would have eaten; 
but while they made ready he fell into a trance."^ 

Trances were once as common in the Church as 
they are now among Spiritualists; but alas! the 
glory of the Church has departed. 

In 2 Cor. xii:l, 2, Paul, in coming "to visions 
and revelations of the Lord," says: 

"I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in 
the body, I cannot tell, or whether out of the body, I cannot tell ; 
God knoweth) such an one caught up to the third heaven." 

This again means exactly what Spiritualists mean 
by entrancement. 

But to return to* John, through whom the book 
of Revelation came, in chapter iv, verse 2, he says: 
"I was in the spirit." In chapter xvii:3, he again 
says: 

"So he carried me away in the spirit into the wildernes." 

In chapter xxi;10, he says: 

"And he carried me away in spirit to a great and high moun- 
tain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descend- 
ing out of heaven from God.' 

That this was a spiritual manifestation no one 
can doubt. John was carried away in spirit — not 
in body. The city he saw was a symbol ; cities do 
dot descend from heaven ready made ; this, I be- 
lieve is generally understood. 

Who the particular spirits were that entranced 



30 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

John and showed him so many wild and wierd 
symbols I do not know. There were seven of them, 
so John says several times. One was supposed to 
be Jesus of Nazareth. See Rev. i : 1, 5, xxii : 16 . 

Seven times in one connection is the church ad- 
monished to hear what the spirit saith unto the 
churches. Many times the communicator is simply 
called "the spirit." Eev. xiv:12, xxii:17. 

Jesus is spoken of in the third person, and even 
called "our Lord," by the communicating angel. 
See Rev. xi:8. 

One of the communicating spirits was probably 
Daniel, the prophet; this we recognize by the tests 
given, of beasts, heads, horns, etc. Another was 
probably Elijah, the prophet, and another John s 
brother. Several times John sees the communicat- 
ing spirits. Sometimes he is intromitted into 
heaven and sees much more. In chapter xix he 
hears "much people in heaven" singing and shout- 
ing; again he hears the voice of "a great multi- 
tude." He is so overcome with awe at the sight of 
these things that he wants to worship "at the feet 
of the angel," who showed them to him, but the 
angel claims not to be Jesus, but to be one who 
keeps the testimony of Jesus. He says, "I am thy 
fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the 
testimony of Jesus." Rev. xix : 10. 

In chapter xxii:8, 9, John says: 

"And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I 
had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the 
angel which showed me these things. Then, saith he unto me, 
See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy breth- 



OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 31 

ren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this 
book: Worship God." 

Here the term angel, fellow-servant, brethren 
and prophet, are all applied to the same individual. 
Thus it is established beyond a peradventure that 
the book of Revelation is nothing more or less than 
a series of communications coming from spirits ex- 
carnated to spirits incarnate. 

DID THEY WORK FOR MONEY? 

Mr. Talmage, in a discourse which he occasionally 
delivers against Spiritualism, objects to mediums 
working for money. Of course there is no harm in 
ministers are anybody else working for money ex- 
cept Spiritualist mediums, but as they receive their 
gifts without money or price, so they should give 
their time and power to those who want them. It 
is, in the estimation of this man, nothing that two- 
thirds of those who want a medium's time want to 
cunsult the spirit-world as to some financial scheme, 
or to yoke the world of spirits to some gambling 
job they may have on hand. But 'twas ever thus; 
even the prophets expected to have their palms 
crossed with silver. 

In 1 Sam. ix:6-20, is the account of Saul, the fut- 
ure king of Israel, going to Samuel, "the man of 
God — an honorable man," to find out what he could 
prognosticate for them, for "all that he saith surely 
cometh to pass." "Now," said the servant of Saul, 
* 'let us go thither ; peradventure he may show us 
our way that we should go." Saul objected to go 
to Samuel, the prophet, to have him show him 



32 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

where to find his father's asses, not on the ground 
that there was anything wrong in it, but because 
"the bread was spent in our vessels, and there is 
not a present to bring to the man of God, what 
have we?" The servant discovers they have some 
silver, which was all-sufficient, and they go to 
Samuel, who says, verse 20: 

"And as for thine assess, that were lost three days ago, set not 
thy mind on them , for they are found." 

Micah, the prophet, said of Israel : 

"They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. 
The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach 
for hire, and the prophets divine for money ; yet they will lean 
upon the Lord and say, Is not the Lord among us ? None evil 
can come upon us •" Mich, iii :10. 

The foregoing is proof that even the money con- 
ditions of mediumship obtained among biblical me- 
diums, as well as among those of to-day. 

INSTRUMENTS USED BY ANCIENT MEDIUMS. 

Occasionally we find mediums who require a glass 
of water or something of the kind into which to 
look, in order to concentrate their minds so they 
can get what is needed. Such w T as probably the 
case in biblical times. They used 

THE DIVINING CUP. 

Gen. xliv:5. 



"Is not this it in which my Lord drinketh ? and whereby in 
>ed he divineth ? Ye have done evil in so doing." 

In the same chapter, verse 15, we read: 



OR CHRIST AND MKDIUMSHIP. 33 

"And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have 
done ! wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine ?" 

The circumstance of taking the cup need not be 
told here ; I am only after the one point expressed in 
each of the above verses, that Joseph, the prophet, 
the seer, the dreamer, the interpreter of dreams, 
the fortune-teller, used a divining cup. Indeed if 
the Bible were correctly translated in many places 
the word prophet would be rendered fortune-teller. 
Taylor, in his *'Diegesis," page 153, renders Psal. 
cv:15, as follows: 

"Touch not my Christs and do my fortune-tellers no harm." 

In the authorized version it reads : 

"Touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm." 

THE URIM. 

The Urim is used to-day by hundreds of mediums. 
It was nothing but a clear, colorless stone that the 
priest looked into until he was thrown into a trance 
or semi-trance state. The Thummim was also a 
stone used for a similar purpose. 

A command to Moses was : 

"Thou shalt put into the breastplate the urim and the thum- 
mim." Ex. xxviii :30. 

The children of Israel when they wanted to hear 
God's opinions on any question consulted urim as 
regularly as mediums are consulted to-day. A 
writer says : 

"And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him 
not, neither by dreams, nor by urim nor by prophets." 1 Sam. 
xxviii:6. 



34 JESUS AND THK MEDIUMS, 

The above shows that they had as many ways of 
consulting "the Lord," in olden times as people 
have of consulting the spirits now. 

Joshua's development and urim. 

Joshua was developed by having mediumistic 

hands put on his head, as thousands of mediums are 

to-day. The record says : 

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee, Joshua, the son of 
Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, (that is, he was a natural me- 
dium and only needed developing) and lay thine hands upon 
him. * * * And he shall stand before Eleazer the priest, and 
he (Eleazer) shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of urim 
before the Lord. At his word shall they go out, and at his word 
shall they come in, both he and the children of Israel." Num. 
xxvii:18. 

That Moses' putting his hands upon Joshua w r as 
for the purpose of Spiritual development, and that 
it accomplished that no one can doubt who has 
taken the pains to examine the records. Deut. 
xxxiv:9, says: 

"And Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the Spirit of wis- 
dom ; for Moses had laid his hands on him ; and the children of 
Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded 
Moses." 

THAT FLEECE. 

I have often heard persons say, If the spirits 
want to talk to me I have no objections; indeed, I 
am willing to listen to them talk; no "peeping," 
no "muttering," no "table tipping," none of your 
slow processes. They can just as well talk right 
out as to go through all such nonsense. 

Possibly the objector may be correct. If so, his 



OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 35 

objections will weigh with all its force against Bible 
methods. Messages of old, with the exception of 
the Ten Commandments, were not spoken out as 
people talk to each other here. In the case of the 
Ten Commandments they were required to spend 
"to-day and to-morrow" in preparation, "and be 
ready against the third day." 

In the Pentecost, described in the Acts of the 
Apostles, there was a ten-day's preparation before 
"every man spoke as the spirit gave him utterance." 

The case of Gideon's fleece illustrates the matter 
as it is. As the story goes, God had asked Gideon 
to save Israel by his hand, but Gideon was not fully 
satisfied ; he wanted a test. He did not ask God to 
speak right out, but he said : 

"If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, be 
hold, I will put a fleece of wool on the floor; and if the dew be 
on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then 
shall I know thou wilt save Israel by mine hand as thou hast 
said " Judges vi :30. 

What a slow process this was to get a communi- 
cation from God! Why did not Gideon demand of 
God to speak out? 

The test, however, seems to have been so satis- 
factory that they concluded to test the test by try- 
ing it again and seeing if it will work the other 
way. The record continues : 

"And it was so ; for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust 
the fleece together and wringed the dew out of the fleece a bowl 
full of water. And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger 
be hot against me, and I will speak but this once ; let me prove, 
I pray thee, but this once with the fleece ; let it be dry only upon 
he fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God 



36 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

did so that night ; for it was dry upon the fleece only and there 
was dew upon all the ground." Verses 38-40. 

What a field for ridicule here! Think of a God 
and a general ofa great army spending forty-eight 
hours in this ridiculous way of getting a communi- 
cation. How long would modern anti Spiritualists 
endure anything so silly? But it is m the Bible. 

This whole history is quite as ridiculous as the 
above. When they went oiit to fight, the Lord is 
represented as saying to Gideon: 

"The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the 
Midianites into their hands." 

It is surely something new too see an army too 
large ; but the fact is, they were to fight as medi- 
ums, and everything depended on their develop- 
ment — not upon numbers, so Gideon makes the 
proclamation : 

"Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart 
early from Mount Gilead." 

On this announcement twenty-two thousand 
turned back leaving an army of only ten thousand. 
The army was still too large and the record says: 

"And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; 
bring them down unto the water and I will try them for thee there, 
* * * every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue as 
a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself ; likewise every one 
that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of 
them that lapped were three hundred men. But all of the rest 
oi the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And 
the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred that lapped 
will I save, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand; and let 
all the other people go every man into his place." Judges vii :4 8 

Looking at this in the light that most opposers 



OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 87 

look at Spiritualism it is a supremely ridiculous 
affair; but when it is understood that this Lord, or 
God who said these things to Gideon was a depart- 
ed human spirit, and that this battle w r as to be 
fought by mediums, under the direction of Gideon, 
a medium, all is plain. Three hundred of the best 
developed out of a panel of over thirty-two thou- 
sand were selected. A test was applied. The spirit 
who spoke to Gideon said, "I will try them for 
thee." 

No one can read the history of the battle and 
believe the story at all without believing the vic- 
tory was won by the spirit-world, not by soldiers. 
The fact is, neither Gideon nor one of his three 
hundred men were armed. The language to Gideon 
was, "For I have delivered it into thine hand." 

The wonderful dream given the mediumistic 

soldier was from the spirit-world, and the record 

says : 

"And the Lord set every man's (Midianite's) sword against his 
fellow even throughout all the host." Yerse 22. 

CONDITIONS OF ENTERING THE CABINET. 

The Bible is very particular in laying down just 
who may and who may not enter in the cabinet, 
and exactly the condition upon which those who 
went into the cabinet were allowed to enter. 

None but the high priest was allowed to enter ; 
he must wash his flesh and change all his clothing 
before he entered the holy of holies, or cabinet. 
This cabinet must be kept dark only when lighted 
with the glory of God — that is, spirit light. All 



38 JBSUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

this was done to keep bad magnetisms out lest the 
condition for good manifestations should be spoiled. 
Lev. xvi;2-4, says: 

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother 
that he come not at all times into the holy place, within the 
vail, before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark ; that he die 
not ; for I will appear in the cloud in the mercy seat. * * * 
He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have linen breeches 
upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with a 
linen mitre shall he be attired. These are the holy garments 
therefore shall he wash his flesh in water and so put them on." 

COMING OF CHRIST. 

Now that I have shown what is meant by the 
term Christ, that it is mediumship; and that spirit 
manifestations of the Bible were, in every respect, 
the same, and performed under the same conditions 
as those of to-day, it remains that I briefly explain 
the coming of Christ. 

If I have been right thus far in my expositions, 
the coming of Christ does not refer to the personal 
advent of some person, but tothe presence of a 
power. The word "coming" generally signifies 
"presence," or "manifestation." There are several 
words used in the Greek Testament, which are so 
rendered into English as to make some who have 
not studied much on the matter, believe in the 
personal, that is, the bodily return of the man of 
Nazareth. No idea could be more wild or far- 
fetched. One of the words used inthis connection 
is the word parousza, and signifies not, "coming," 
but presence. 

It would require more space than I have at com- 



OR CHRIST AND MKDIUMSHIP. 39 

mand to refer to every place where this word occurs 
in the Greek Testament. It is generally wrong- 
fully rendered "coming." It occurs several times 
in Matt, xxiv, and is always rendered "coming/' 
In verse 3, the disciples are, by our rendering, made 
to ask, "What shall be the sign of thy coming and 
of the end of the world?" What they really did 
ask was: "What shall be the sign of thy presence 
and of the end of the age?" 

Modern Adventism has interpreted the text to 
signify "What shall be the sign that your com- 
ing is not very far in the future?" The fact is, they 
wanted to know the sign of the presence of this 
power, known as mediumship. 

In 1 Cor. xv:25, Paul says, "Those that are 
Christs at his coming." The word rendered at, in 
that instance is the Greek word en, and should be 
rendered in ; the word rendered coming is the word 
parousia, and should be rendered, not "coming," 
but presence. The two renderings would be, " Those 
of the anointed in the presence." The vrovdparousza 
is rendered presence in a few places. In 2 Cor. 
x:10, his bodily presence is weak." In that in- 
stance, it would not do to say, "his bodily coming 
is weak." 

In Phil. ii:12, Paul says: 

"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed not as in 
my presence [parousia] only, but now much more in my absence 
\_apousia~\, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.' ' 

It would make rather bad work to render the 
word parousia coming, or the word apousia going 
away in that instance. 



40 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS. 

Ill 2 Pet. i: 16, Peter speaks of the power and 

coming of our Lord. If you would read what 

Peter said instead of what the translators made 

him say, read as follows : 

"For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, 
when we made known unto you the power and presence of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty." 

Another word used a few times and generally 
applied to a literal physical advent of the man Je- 
sus, is the word erkomia. It is the word the magi 
used when they said, "We are come to worship 
him — that is, we are here to worship him. Paul 
uses it when he says, "I will come to visions and 
revelations." The same word is used in describing 
the one < 'which is, which was and which is to come" 
"The great day of his wrath is come" etc. These 
are they which came out of great tribulation. The 
term signifies the approach of an event rather than 
the walking or riding of an individual to meet you 
at some particular spot. Thy kingdom come" 
"The comforter — the spirit of truth shall "come/ 9 
refer to the same. 

The remaining word is emphanizo, and means 
literally manifestation or appearance. In John 
xiv:21, 22, the word occurs twice and is properly 
rendered manifest in both instances. These verses 
contain Jesus' promise, "I will manifest myself un- 
to him," and Judas' question, "How wilt thou 
manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?" 
The same word is sometimes rendered appear, as 
in Heb. ix:24, "Where Christ is to ajppear in the 
presence of God for us." It is sometimes rendered 



OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 41 

shoived. In Acts xxii :22, "Thou hast showed these 
things to me." 

The only remaining word to be considered is 
phonero, which means appear, manifest. The word 
occurs in Jno. xxi:l, "After these things Jesus 
showed himself alive again." 

The word is rendered manifest sometimes. In 
Eom. xvi :26, Paul says, c 'But now is made manifest 
and by the scriptures of the prophets." 

The same word occurs in Col. iii:4, where Paul 
says: 

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we 
appear with him in glory." 

In 1 John ii:28, it is again rendered appear. 
There the writer says: 

"And now little children, abide in him, that when he shall 
appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before 
him at his coming." 

The word is rendered appear and manifested in 
the following: 

"Beloved now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet 
appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear 
we shall be like him, for we shall gee him as he is." 1 Jno. iii :3. 

Verse 5, says: 

"And ye know he was manifested to take away our sins.'' 

Verse 8, says: 

"The son of God was manifested that he might destroy the 
works of the devil." 

COMING OF CHRIST AND SPIRITUALISM. 

Jude says : 

"Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints. 
Verse 14. 



42 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

From this some infer that this power, here called 
"the Lord," is coming with somebody. Not so; 
the word rendered with signifies in; the word ren- 
dered saint signifies one sanctified, or set apart to a 
certain work. This power once came in Jesus of 
Nazareth enabling him to preach the gospel, heal 
the sick and do many other good things. To-day 
the saiiie power is manifested through ten thousand 
who have been sanctified or set apart to this special 
work. 

When John sent word to Jesus, to know whether 
he was the anointed, Jesus did not send back word 
that he was; he only told John's disciples to go 
back and tell John the things they saw and heard. 
See Matt. xi:3-5. 

That was enough! To-day these same things are 
being done by thousands proving that this power 
has come "in ten thousand of his saints." 

SEE THE ANALOGY. 

Has the reader ever thought of the analogy be- 
tween the coming of Christ in the person of Jesus 
and the things now being accomplished in Modern 
Spiritualism? 

1. The people were looking for the Messiah when 
Jesus was on earth. So Spiritualism came just at 
the time the people were looking more than ever 
before for a Messiah. It came when "Millerism," 
so-called, was at its height. In fact, the first posi- 
tively known to be intelligent communication was 
given in the family of John D. Fox, on the night of 



OR CHRIST AND MBDIUMSHIP. 43 

March 31, 1848, at the very hour the Adventist's 
"midnight cry" had ended and many of them had 
gone out to meet their Lord. 

2. "He came to his own and his own received 
him not." 

This was no more true of the Christ power mani- 
fested through Jesus than of the same power in 
Spiritualism. The very last people to receive the 
truths of Spiritualism were those who were looking 
for their Messiah. As Jesus did not come with 
pomp and glory and was therefore rejected, so 
Spiritualism coming in so humble a manner as it 
did was rejected by the very few people who should 
have been benefited by it. 

3. They said he had a devil, he cast out devils by 
Beelzebub the prince of devils, etc, etc. 

That is exactly what this same class ot people, as 
universally as they acknowledged the manifesta- 
tions at all, say. They argued that the power was 
from an evil source, thus proving that Jesus was 
right again when he said : 

"If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub how 
much more shall they call them of his household ?" 

4. Jesus and his mission were rejected by the 
churches; he found his friends among those whom 
the church rejected. 

It was church-members who said: "We are 
Moses' disciples; as for this fellow, we know not 
whence he is." It was the church that brought 
every accusation against him, accusing him of din- 
ing with sinners, and of blasphemy. He said to 
the most popular church-members, "Publicans and 



44 JKSUS AND THE) MEDIUMS, 

harlots go into the kingdom of heaven before you." 
To-clay the majority of those who receive this 
second Christ are outside the church, and are ac- 
cused by the church of being just the class that 
Jesus said would go into the kingdom before the 
church-m embers. 

This analogy might be carried farther, but this is 
enough. Every spiritually enlightened person can 
see that it is perfect as far as I have gone. 

It now remains that I notice a few of the most 
formidable 

OBJECTIONS 

to the leading positions taken in the foregoing. 

One objector said to me: ' 'But when Christ comes 
he comes in the clouds of heaven. Spiritualism 
did not thus come to the world." 

I replied, "Yes, the Bible says he shall come in 
clouds; but by the term clouds, is not always meant 
the vapors in the atmosphere ; there are clouds of 
dust, clouds of smoke and clouds of people. The 
Bible also speaks of "a great cloud of witnesses." 
Heb. xii.-l. 

When the Christ came before, he came in one — 
Jesus; the next time he comes in "ten thousand of 
his saints." This both Isaiah and Paul would call 
"a cloud." Is. ix:8. Heb. xii;l. 

"Ah," said my friend, "but clouds mean clouds. 
When the Bible says he -will come with or in the 
clouds of heaven, I must believe it." 

I replied: "Do horses mean horses? The Bible 
says Christ shall come riding on a gray horse." 



OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 45 

He declared he had not noticed the text. I turned 
and read: 

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; and he 
that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in right- 
eousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame 
of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name 
written, that no man knew, but himself. And he was clothed 
with a vesture dipped in blood; and his nameis called The Word 
of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him 
upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And 
out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite 
the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he 
treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty 
God. And he had on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, 
KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." Rev. xix:ll-l6. 

Who, from reading this, expects to see all heaven 
coming to earth on white horses? Who believes 
that a sword is actually to be issued out of the mouth 
of the Lord of lords and the King of kings? This is 
enough to illustrate the fact that it is possible to be 
too literal in our interpretation of the Bible. 

"But," said this minister, "When Christ comes, 
death shall lose its sting, the grave its victory ; the 
dead shall be raised, and there shall be no more 
death. These things have not yet come to pass. 
I have not seen my dead mother; the grave still 
holds her, and death is still using his sting. " 

To all this I reply, death has lost its sting and the 
grave its victory over those who have recognized the 
truths of this new dispensation. So far as others 
are concerned, he never will lose his stinof. Death 
does not sting those he takes with him ; it is those 
left behind who are stung, Now when Spiritualism 



46 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, 

brings their dead back to them ; when they see and 
talk with them, they know they are not dead. 
Death has lost its sting. When they talk with their 
friends then they know they are not in the grave ; 
then, and not until then, does the grave lose its 
victory. 

Spiritualism brings, in reality, the kingdom of 
heaven; that is, "the reign of the heavens." The 
children of the kingdom are even now in the king- 
dom ; others are in outer darkness where there is 
"weeping and gnashing of teeth." 

Death never loses its sting, nor the grave its vic- 
tory in the estimation of those who are in "outer 
darkness." There is "wailing and gnashing of 
teeth." Those born into this light — received into 
this kingdom — receive their dead friends who are 
no longer dead to them; they now see that instead 
of dying, they have r'sen to a new and better life. 

To-day, except to those who walk in darkness, 
there is no more death. To-day all tears are wiped 
away. There can be "no more sorrow nor crying." 
Those who reach the altitude to which Spiritualism 
is capable of bringing them, will be elevated beyond 
sickness. Health will come to such, not as an 
especial gift or reward, but it comes as a result of 
the spiritually elevated position they occupy. 

A spiritual influx will come to statesmen ; and 
they will, as a result, be more spiritual in their leg- 
islation. Without this world, especially those in 
"outer darkness," knowing it, an inspiration will 
move those in power to make more just and equit- 



OR CHRIST A.ND MEDIUMSHIP. 47 

able laws. Gradually the old will give way before 
the new, and heaven will be found upon earth. 

Keaders, may yon and I assist in bringing about 
this state of things. 



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